The Idea

Check out the new online programme Plastic Free 4 Kids. It's a free 8 lesson, curriculum-aligned programme designed for 3rd-6th class pupils.

Once completed, each child will receive a Certificate of Participation. Start today by watching the videos on Youtube.

Plastic Free 4 Schools is a programme to help schools to go plastic free, through 3 plastic free actions, and in turn, act as ambassadors for change in their communities. It has been designed by Change by Degrees and tested through Plastic Free Kinsale - a community initiative to free a whole town from single use plastic. In 2019 and 2020 over 7,500 teachers and students took part in in-person Plastic Free workshops in Cork and Tipperary. This work was cut short due to the pandemic but Change by Degrees created Plastic Free 4 Kids in order to continue this much-needed awareness raising and community outreach for primary school students. Primary schools right across the country can now learn with via the 8 lesson, online programme.

Plastic pollution is a problem that affects every person living in Ireland today – either directly through rising waste collection charges due to recent changes to recycling waste processes, or indirectly through potential impacts on health and wellbeing. Plastic waste litters our countryside, our beaches and usually ends up in the sea. In February 2018 researchers in NUIG found that 73% of deepwater fish had ingested plastic particles, one of the highest frequencies in fish ever reported. Many varieties of plastics are toxic and it is not yet known how these toxins will affect human health.

What's Involved?

You can become a Plastic Free Champion in your school by building a team of helpers (both staff and students) and taking the following 3 actions:

1. Incorporate the online 8 lesson programme into your curriculum.
2. Encourage reusable water bottles and say no to plastic in lunch boxes.
3. Become a Plastic Free Ambassador in your community.